Model Airplane International – September 2019

54 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - September 2019

KIT BUILD

here’s the thing: the kit supplied ones are just
as good. The only advantage being a more
clearly defi ned tread pattern on the Res/Kit
ones. When you fi t the tyres and hubs just
remember that they should be splayed out,
which is maddening for my OCD and I suspect
will be for some competition judges as well!
The nose gear was also fi tted now fi tted.
This received some minor modifi cations to
ease construction and painting. Firstly, if you

choose to fi t it in the later stages as I have,

you will need to sand the shoulders of the gear

leg slightly, so that they fi t fl ush with the inner

walls of the gear bay. The second modifi cation

was purely to ease painting. The mounting

pins for the tyre hub were removed from the

inside of the gear trailing leg, and the whole

leg then built up in its entirety, without the tyre

fi tted. A suitably small diameter hole was then

drilled through both sides of the trailing arm,

and the centre of the front

wheel hub, using a 0.4 mm drill

bit. Copper tubing with an outside

diameter of 0.4 mm was then used as an axle

passing through the trailing arm and front hub.

This allows the front tyre to be fi tted, much like

the real one, once all the painting has been

completed, doing away with a lot of tiresome

masking.

It was now time to deal with something

If you wish to show the auxiliary

intakes closed, Zvezda provide

separate parts allowing you to do this,

easing the construction substantially

This has also been carried through

to the landing gear doors, should you

wish to close them also.

The area highlighted is best left

free fl oating and not glued. This

allows it some degree of movement

when fi tting the blast panels to the

rear of the exhaust nozzles, which

is surely needed.

Due to the excellent fi t of the parts, many can be built and

painted as sub-assemblies, before being brought together later.

Minor modifi cations were carried

out on the nose gear leg to

assist in painting and assembly.

Paint, decanted from a Motolow

Chrome pen, was used to good

effect, simulating the chrome

found on both the gear legs and

landing light lens.